HankAlex Grab Bag
by Artemis J. Halk
Summary: A random assortment of extremely short drabbles featuring a Hank/Alex pairing.
1. Chapter 1

So, this'll probably be updated on and off as I write stuff that's exceptionally short. I'll try to include at least five little prompts in each chapter, so that it sort of makes it worth it.

None of these have been proof-read, so if you spot any errors, please let me know!

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Prompt number 18: Rainbow

"No Rain, No Rainbow"

They'd had a fight. It was about something stupid, like the dishwasher, or shoes, or toothpaste. Hank couldn't quite remember the original cause, but it had lead to them screaming at one another. Alex had started throwing papers around at some point, as she'd brought up a bunch of stupid stuff that he'd done in the field.

Finally, after about an hour of this, Alex had stormed into the bedroom and had slammed the door roughly behind her. Hank did not follow after her. He knew that it would only lead to both of them doing stuff that they regretted a lot.

So, he decided to give her some time to cool off. Time for himself to cool off.

He picked up the papers, and then set to reorganizing them in the precise order that both of them craved. Then, he set to work on doing some paperwork.

He tried to put the argument from his mind, no matter the cause, or who was "right" and "wrong".

He eventually finished everything that he'd brought home with him, and went to check to make sure that Alex was okay. He found her standing out on the balcony, even though it was misting slightly.

She was caught in some weird glow from the street-light below, and with the moisture, it made her look ethereal.

"Why are you standing out in the rain?" he asked gently as he approached the open door.

"Oh. I'm just… cooling off." She chuckled slightly at her little joke. It was quite chilly out.

She held her face up to the sky for a moment longer before she turned around to face him. "Listen, I'm sorry about everything. I didn't mean what I said. I was angry."

"I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have said those things, either," Hank said.

"So we're okay?"

"Yeah."

Alex looked up and smiled brightly. "The sun's coming out. Let's go up onto the roof to see if there's a rainbow."

Hank agreed by wrapping his arm around Alex's waist and flying her the few stories up to the roof of their building.

There was one. It stretched across the horizon. "No rain, no rainbow," Alex said gently. "No relationship is perfect, but at least we try."

"Yes. I love you."

"I love you, too," Alex said as she kissed him. "Hey, do you ever just want to… fly off to try to find the pot of gold?"

"A rainbow is nothing but a reflection of light off of water. And you know that, Alex."

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Prompt number 70: 67%

"Sixty-Seven Percent"

It was by silent agreement between Hank and Alex that sixty-seven percent of the bed belonged to Alex. It didn't matter if it was the bed in Alex's apartment, the bed in Hank's apartment, or later, their marriage bed. Sixty-seven percent of the bed belonged to her.

Hank only just wished that she stuck to the agreement that only sixty-seven percent of the blankets belonged to her. She was a horrible blanket hog! He often woke up in the middle of winter nights, freezing cold because Alex was wrapped up in all of the blankets on the bed. He was beyond okay with her taking up sixty-seven percent of the bed, but not okay with her taking one-hundred percent of the blankets.

However, sometimes her one-hundred percent usage of the blankets was nullified by her almost zero percent usage of the pillows. Her preferred pillow was, of course, Hank.

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Prompt number 23: Cat

"Phobos"

"What exactly is that?" Hank asked with irritation.

"It's a cat!" Alex exclaimed cheerfully. She offered him a bright smile over the top of the calico cat.

"I know what a cat is, but what exactly is it doing in our apartment?"

"I adopted her! She's such a sweetie— I couldn't possibly say no."

Hank let out a slow breath through his nose and rubbed his temples with irritation. "I should not have let you go with Kara to the shelter thing. I'm not going to let you within fifty feet of another shelter."

"Well, I'm keeping her. She's perfectly nice, and since she's a cat, she won't require a lot of care. Just help me feed her from time to time, and it'll be okay. Alright?"

"Fine," Hank said as he sat down with the sofa. Alex put the cat down on the ground, and the first thing that she did was to walk over to the sofa and climb onto Hank's lap. Hank held his hands up as the cat curled up into a ball and started to purr loudly.

"Aw, she likes you! She did the same thing to me at the shelter!" Alex said as she waltzed into the kitchen to get herself something to eat.

"Get her off of me, Alex!"

"Nope. She's chosen you now, too!"

Hank growled lowly under his breath, but summoned the remote off from the coffee table with his telekinesis.

An hour later, Alex was curled up around him on the sofa and they'd just finished watching Law & Order. The cat was still on his lap, and he was absently stroking her ears. "Okay, so maybe she can stay," he said reluctantly.

"What? Really?"

"Yes," Hank said with resigned sigh. "What are we going to name her?"

"Hmmm… I should be something profound, yet also a bit of an inside joke between us," Alex said slowly. Hank said something in Martian, and Alex gave him a dirty look. "We are not going to name her 'You dirty cunt bucket'."

Hank gave an absent shrug. "It was worth a try."

They fell silent for a moment as they tried to think of a good name for the cat.

"Phobos," Hank said quietly.

"Hm?" Alex said as she looked over to her husband.

"Phobos," he said a bit louder.

"Yes! That's perfect!" Alex finally scooped Phobos off from Hank's lap. "Phobos."

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Prompt number 52: Deep in Thought

"Deep in Thought"

Alex's brow was furrowed as she stared intently at the colorful game board in front of her.

"Mommy," Jeremy said. "Mommy? Mommy? It's your turn. Mommy? Mommy?! MOMMY?!" His frantic cries were getting louder and louder the longer Alex sat, unmoving until Hank finally stepped over to where they were playing CandyLand on the coffee table.

"Alex?" he said gently as he touched her shoulder. She startled slightly, and then she looked up at him briefly before she turned her attention to the now-screaming three year old.

"Yes, honey?" she asked with infinite patience.

"It's your turn!" Jeremy said with exasperation.

"Right," Alex said. She drew a card and moved her character forward on the board.

"You looked exceptionally deep in though," Hank whispered into her ear as Jeremy drew a card and moved his piece forward. "What were you thinking about?"

Alex took her turn before she turned her head to Hank. "I was thinking about the last time that I actually experimented in the lab. About the last time that we were alone. And I mean… alone alone."

"What are you thinking about?" Hank asked evenly.

"Jeremy, how would you like to have a sleep over with Aunt Kara and Uncle Winn?" Alex asked her son.

"What? Can I? Aunt Kara always takes me out flying! And Uncle Winn always lets me win at Mario Kart! And they both let me stay up as late as I want!" Jeremy exclaimed, his eyes growing wide with excitement. His parents chuckled— "as late as he wanted" for a three-year-old translated to out like a light around nine.

"I'll call Kara and see what she has to say," Alex said as she got up. "Hank, would you keep playing for me?"

She came back into the room just as Hank was helping Jeremy to set up for a game of Clue Junior. "What'd she say?"

"She's busy tonight, but she'd be happy to take him for the entire weekend," Alex said with a huge grin on her face.

Hank gave Jeremy a skeptical look. "Gee, I don't know. Are you sure that you're ready to spend an entire weekend with Kara and Winn?"

Jeremy's eye's widened. "Am I ever?!" he exclaimed.

"Want in on this round, Alex?"

"Deal me in," Alex said as she sunk down onto the sofa next to her husband. Hank swiftly dealt out all of the cards. A second after they'd been passed out, Jeremy looked up at his parents.

"Polly with the cat in the bank!" he exclaimed, and then clapped his hands over his mouth in horror.

"JEREMIAH!" Alex said sharply. "How many times do I have to tell you not to read people's minds?"

"I'm sorry, Mommy!" he exclaimed as fat tears started to leak from his eyes. "It was an accident. Please don't let me not go to Aunt Kara's this weekend."

"It happens," Hank reassured his son quickly. "Let's reshuffle and try again."

After they'd gotten started on a new game, Hank turned to Alex. "You should get lost in thought more often. You come up with some wonderful ideas."

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Prompt number 46: Family

"Giving Thanks"

Hank Henshaw had a lot to be thankful for. His life was at the top of the list, closely followed by the peace that had fallen over his new home thanks to the help from people such as Supergirl.

Of course, the number one thing that he was thankful for was his family. With all of their lives running parallel to one another, they didn't get a chance to meet up as often as he'd like. But it was Thanksgiving, so they were all gathered at his and Alex's place to celebrate the holiday.

Before Alex, he usually spent the day working. He didn't have anybody to celebrate it with, anyway. But he tried to convince himself that it was a holiday that had nothing to do with him. Not only was he not an American, but he also wasn't even from Earth.

But his views on the holiday changed after Alex. She taught him that anybody could be your family— it didn't matter.

Of course, then they'd gotten married, and that made her his family. And Kara, and Eliza, too. As much as he sometimes hated Eliza, he was more than happy to call her family. Especially coming from a period where he literally had none.

And then Jeremy had been born, making his little family unit complete.

Finally, Kara and Winn had gotten married, and they had two little super-brats of their own, Alura and Zack. Alura wasn't so bad, but Zack was the single most annoying child in all of history. This was a fact he brought up to his wife whenever the subject of Zack came up.

But it was his family, and he wouldn't give any of them up for anything. Ever.

"What are you thankful for, Uncle Hank?" four year old Alura asked.

"For having the most wonderful family in the world."

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	2. Chapter 2

This hasn't been proof-read, so let me know if you spot any errors!

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"Masks"

Hank Henshaw wore masks.

No, scratch that.

J'onn J'onzz wore masks. Hank Henshaw was simply one of J'onn's masks.

In the back of her mind, Alex knew that it was not the body of J'onn, but rather, of a man who had died many years ago. However, J'onn had been Hank for such a long time, that Hank had become a part of him. If you pretend to be something for long enough, there will eventually come a time when you no longer have to pretend.

But, he was only ever Hank around Alex. He didn't offer to become some past lover of Alex, or somebody that she'd always admired from afar. And she never asked him to do that. Because the person that she loved was J'onn J'onzz, Hank Henshaw mask and all.

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"Hair"

Alex sat at her desk in her lab, hunched over the computer as she typed up a report. As Hank watched, a clump of hair escaped from the messy ponytail that she'd thrown it up into and fell into her eyes. With irritation, Alex brushed it out of the way, only to have it fall back into her eyes a second later.

"Your hair is getting so long now," Hank commented as he stepped further into her lab. Alex looked up, a little startled. He'd been watching her for about five minutes now, but she'd been so intent on her report that she hadn't even noticed him.

"Yes," she agreed. She leaned back in her chair and cracked her shoulders by twisting her hands behind her back. Then, she yanked the tie out from her hair and attempted to restrain all of it once again. But like before, the same clump refused to be restrained and fell into her eyes.

With a groan of frustration, Alex yanked the tie out again, but stilled when Hank twisted her hair around his fingers. "I like it," he whispered before he leaned down and kissed the side of her jaw gently.

"I was thinking about getting it cut," Alex said as she leaned against him. "Like how short it was when I first became an agent."

"You should let it grow out," Hank said gently. Alex shot him an irritated look, and he quickly backtracked. "Or you could do whatever you want because its your hair."

"Well said," she said as her eyes flickered back to the computer. "It's easy for you to say— if you don't like the length of your hair, all you have to do is shift it differently. We actually have to grow it out or cut it shorter. It can be a complete pain at times."

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Prompt number 48: Childhood

"Parental Worries"

Hank awoke when he tried to reach out for Alex in his sleep and found her side of the bed cold. He went to find her, and found her in Jeremy's room. She was hunched over him, crying softly.

His heart seized in his chest, and his mind instantly went to the worst case scenario for her to do such a thing.

"Alex?" he asked softly.

She looked up, a little startled at having been caught. "J'onn, I… I'm sorry," she whispered as she reached up to brush the tears from her eyes. In her arms, Jeremy yawned loudly, but didn't wake up.

If nothing was wrong with him, then why was Alex crying over him like that?

"What's wrong?" he asked her gently as he walked over to her and knelt down by her side.

"Sometimes, I just get very overwhelmed with everything. I'm very happy that I have Jeremy, and I wouldn't trade him for the world, but at the same time… what exactly have we done?"

"What do you mean?"

"What kind of childhood will he have? What kind of life? He's green, but from the moment that he was born, you've been hiding his natural appearance. What exactly is that telling him? That he's a monster? Is that the kind of message that you want to send to your son, J'onn?"

"I never want for him to grow up, hating who he is, but at the same time, I want for him to grow up. Period. The world out there… they're not even ready for babies grown in labs. They can barely accept a super hero who looks like a cheerleader. They're not ready for me… or Jeremy."

"But what about his childhood? Or school?" Alex pressed.

"Alex, you are one of the most intelligent women that I know. When most college students were just figuring out that they can't be hung-over and study at the same time, you were working on your PhD. And with m own intelligence, I know that Jeremy is going to be looking at possibly skipping multiple grades and being one of those child geniuses."

"But I don't want any of that for Jeremy."

"What do you mean?" Hank asked with a confused frown.

"I mean, I want for Jeremy's childhood to be as normal as possible. I want him to play with toys and go to kindergarten and make us hand-print turkeys and for him to fall off of the play structure and break his arm… I want him to do all of the normal kid stuff. I don't want to put expectations on him. Especially not when he's not even potty-trained yet."

"But what if he asks for advanced classes where he can be intellectually stimulated?"

"That's different," Alex insisted. "I would give him whatever he wants. But I won't be a parent that pushes my child to do something just so that he lives up to my own standards."

"I can't predict the future, but something tells me that Jeremy will have the most wonderful childhood," Hank said. He stood and pressed a kiss to Alex's temple. "Come on, let's not keep him up. He's finally just starting to sleep through the night."

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Prompt number 63: Do not disturb

"Saturday Lie-In"

"Mama? Mama? Mama? Mama? Mama?" This was accompanied by the sound of the doorknob on their bedroom door rattling fiercely.

Alex let out a low groan and shoved her head under her pillow.

"I can't stand it," she said. Her voice was muffled, but thanks to Hank's enhanced hearing, he heard her clearly anyway. "It's our first Saturday off in forever, and we can't even have a lie-in because of Jeremy."

"You know you love it," Hank whispered as he pressed a gentle kiss to Alex's bare shoulder.

"I do," Alex said as she shoved the pillow to the ground. "But on my day off, I'd like to sleep in. You remember sleeping in, right?" She offered him a coy smile.

"I don't exactly remember the sleep part of that," Hank replied as he returned Alex's smile. Alex leaned over and kissed him deeply.

After a moment, she rolled on top of him. He grasped her hips as she gyrated against him, and he started to-

"Dada? Dada? Dada? Dada? Dada?" Frustrated by a lack of response from his mother, Jeremy had started to cry out for his father instead.

Alex let out a frustrated sigh and flopped back down onto the bed again.

"How long until we can hang a 'do not disturb sign' on the door?" she asked as Hank got out of bed.

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Prompt number 10: Breathe Again

"Babysitting"

"Are the kids asleep?" Alex asked as she walked over to where Hank had plopped down on the sofa.

"Yes," he agreed. "Finally."

"I never really wanted to be a mother, but I wouldn't give Jeremy up for anything in the world," Alex said. She came up behind Hank and wrapped her arms around him. "Alura and Zack on the other hand…"

"Do you see what I mean about him?" Hank asked her sharply.

"He's a little boy, Hank," Alex chided him as she pulled away.

"Jeremy isn't like that."

"Well, you also have to look at Kara and Winn," Alex said as she started to pick up the toys that littered the living room. "I don't know exactly what Kara was like when she was that age, but something tells me that Zack isn't too far off from his mother."

"Alura doesn't act like that, either," Hank pointed out as he lifted up all of the toys from the floor with his telekensis so that Alex wouldn't have to bend over to pick them up.

"She takes after her father in that regard," Alex said as she started to pick out the toys that belonged to her niece and nephew so that she could put them in their bags. "But he's still a little boy, and just full of energy."

"But for the first time all day, I feel like I can breathe again," Hank said with a loud sigh. "I don't even know how it is that we got roped into doing monthly sleepovers with them."

"We take them for a weekend once a month to give Kara and Winn some alone time, they take Jeremy for a weekend once a month for our alone time."

Hank grabbed Alex's hand and pulled him down to him for a kiss. "I look forward to our monthly alone time," he whispered against her lips.

"Well, we've got to give Kara and Winn there's, too," Alex replied. "Just breathe: it's only one weekend a month."

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